Fresh Spring Rolls with Sweet and Sour Sauce

With the weather finally getting warm and the days getting longer, can you guess my inspiration for today’s post? These spring rolls are fun to make and great for a light lunch or midday snack. Crispy, fresh, and complimented nicely by the flavorful sweet sauce. The recipe makes about four rolls and half a cup of dipping sauce.

 

Sauce Ingredients:

6 tbs rice vinegar

3 tbs light brown sugar

1 tbs Mirin (Japanese cooking wine)

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp sesame oil

 

Spring Roll Ingredients:

1/2 a head of radicchio, shredded

1 handful of pea sprouts

2 carrots, julienned

1/2 a seedless cucumber, julienned

1-2 stalks of celery, cut in thin strips

1 tbs minced cilantro

1 ripe avocado, sliced

Spring roll wrappers

(I found them in the Asian section of my regular grocery store.)

 

Directions:

In a small saucepan over low heat, dissolve the sugar in the vinegar. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, so the sauce can reduce and thicken. Take off heat and set aside.

Prepare all of the vegetables.

The spring roll wrappers are brittle when you get them from the store. To cook them, fill a skillet with an inch or two of water and bring it to a simmer. Hold the wrapper on one side and dip the other half in the water. Hold it there for a few seconds, until you can feel that it goes soft. Then, pull it out of the water and carefully turn it so that you’re holding the soft end and dipping the first half in the water. When the whole wrapper is soft, let the excess water drip back into the skillet and lay the wrapper out on a cutting board or other surface.

Lay the vegetables down the middle of the spring roll wrapper, leaving an inch or so at the top and bottom.

Fold the top and bottom of the wrapper over the vegetables.

Fold the right side of the wrapper over the vegetables.

Gently push the vegetables to the right, pulling the right side of the wrapper tightly over them. Then, continue rolling as tightly as you can.

Cut the spring rolls in half, if desired, and serve with the sweet and sour sauce.

Bruschetta

Bruschetta is a great way to start a meal that’s sure to please vegans and non-vegans alike. If you’re having guests over, you can make the topping a day ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. In fact, I find that the flavors of this dish mellow after a day or two and it tastes even better, so you will still be able to enjoy it the day after the party– if there’s any left.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

1 pint grape tomotoes

1 tbs minced shallot

1 clove mashed garlic

1 tbs fresh minced parsley

2 tbs fresh minced basil

1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 French baguette, sliced

Directions:

Slice the tomatoes in half and scoop out the juicy, seedy inside with a grapefruit spoon.

You don’t have to worry about getting every last seed, but you want to get rid of most of the juice so that your bruschetta won’t be too soggy.

When your tomatoes are mostly juice-free, chop them smaller.

Combine the chopped tomatoes with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.

Mix gently to combine.

Serve atop sliced baguette and garnish with fresh basil leaves, if desired.

Chocolate Hazelnut Rolls

“Notella” idea #2: Rolls with a Twist

For a new take on the classic cinnamon roll, consider using your chocolate hazelnut spread as a filling. I wasn’t sure how this would turn out, but it was just what I hoped for. Neither the dough nor the filling is too sweet; the sugary frosting has that area covered. The hazelnuts play an important role as well, contributing both flavor and crunch.

This recipe takes a while to make, but it’s not especially work intensive. Most of the time is spent waiting for the dough to rise. You can do most of the work the day before you plan to bake them, if you like.

Finally, if you’ve already used up your notella on…I don’t know…banana surprise muffins, perhaps, or if you’re just looking for a regular old cinnamon roll recipe, I’ve provided instructions for that as well.

This recipe makes seven rolls.

(An odd number, I know, but it fits nicely in an 8 inch square or round baking dish.)

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

1 packet active dry yeast

1 tsp + 1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil, plus extra for the bowl

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for kneading

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

For the chocolate hazelnut filling:

about 1/3 cup homemade chocolate hazelnut spread

1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts, optional

For a traditional cinnamon bun filling:

1/4 cup melted Earth Balance

1/2 cup sugar

2-3 tbs ground cinnamon

For the frosting:

1/4 cup Earth Balance

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 heaping tbs cocoa powder

1 tbs non-dairy milk

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar. Mix with a fork until yeast is dissolved, then set aside to proof for 5-10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the non-dairy milk, oil, and 1/4 cup sugar.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

When the yeast looks foamy, add it to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, approximately one cup at a time, and fold it in with a spatula.

On a clean, floured work space, knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball, about 3-5 minutes.

Coat a clean mixing bowl with oil and place the dough ball in it to rise. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and place in a warm location. It should rise until it has approximately doubled in volume, about an hour or an hour and a half. When it’s ready, it should not spring back up if you press the top with your finger.

When the dough has finished rising, place it on a lightly floured work surface. Punch it down and knead once or twice. Then, roll it into an 8×12 inch rectangle.

If your chocolate hazelnut spread has been in the refrigerator, microwave it for a few seconds until it is an easily spreadable consistency. Then spread it on the dough. Leave about a 1/2 inch border. If you like, you can spread some of the chopped hazelnuts on top of the notella.

(Note: If you prefer the traditional cinnamon filling, just brush the melted Earth Balance on the dough and sprinkle an even layer of sugar and cinnamon over top. Still, leave a 1/2 inch border.)

Beginning at one of the short ends, roll the dough tightly to form a log.

Cut the log into seven rolls. I like to use thread to cut through the dough, but a sharp knife should do the trick as well. If the ends of the log are messy, cut them off and discard them.

Place the rolls in a greased 8×8 square or 8 inch round pan and top with the chopped hazelnuts (optional).

If you plan to bake these as soon as possible, set the pan aside so that the dough can rise for a second time. Pick a warm place again, and leave the dough for 45 minutes – 1 hour. It should expand to fill the pan.

If you plan to bake these within 24 hours, cover the pan and put it in the refrigerator until ready to bake.

Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees, until the tops turn golden brown.

To prepare the frosting, just beat all of the ingredients together with an electric mixer.

I waited a few minutes for the rolls to cool, then I applied the frosting in a zig zag pattern. I used a plastic bag with a small hole cut in the bottom as a makeshift pastry bag.

Serve warm.

Banana Surprise Muffins

Last week, I posted a recipe for “notella,” a chocolate hazelnut spread. Though it’s good simply as a topping for baguettes or fruit, I keep thinking of more new ways to use it. Maybe I’m obsessed; I can’t help it. For the next several posts, this blog will be all notella, all the time.

Notella Idea #1: Muffin Stuffin’

When baking, it’s usually best to have a plan. I do my best to avoid surprises because I find that baking surprises are almost never good. Sure, there’s the rare occasion when a minor ingredient substitution leads to a recipe revelation, but surprises in my kitchen are usually more like “What’s that burning smell?” or “Did I forget to put sugar in this?”  These little muffins, on the other hand, prove that there is such a thing as a pleasant baking-related surprise. It might even be the happiest surprise of all: “How’d that chocolate get in there?” (Just don’t give them to anyone with a nut allergy, or the surprise won’t be nearly as pleasant.)

Makes about 4 dozen mini muffins.

Ingredients:

2 very ripe bananas

1/2 cup  vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

about 1/4 cup vegan chocolate hazelnut spread, refrigerated

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mash the bananas. Add the margarine (at room temperature), sugar, and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth.

Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and fold them into the wet. Mix well.

Refrigerate batter for 20-30 minutes.

Line a mini muffin pan with cupcake papers. You could probably use a regular size cupcake pan (and bake for a few minutes extra), but I haven’t tried it.

Take batter out of the refrigerator and spoon a little into the bottom of each paper (column on the far left). Use enough batter to cover the whole bottom of the paper, but don’t fill it up more than 1/3 of the way.

Spoon little balls of the refrigerated notella into the middle of each cup (column second to the left). Each ball should be about the size of a really big pea. Or I don’t know, two peas. Just make sure there’s room around it.

Spoon more of the cake batter on top of the notella balls (column second to the right). Make sure the notella is covered on all sides.

These don’t rise very much, so don’t be afraid to fill the papers just about to the top (column on the far right).

Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the tops feel firm to the touch.